


Unfettered

by vectacular



Series: Z-to-A of Pegoryu [6]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Getting Together, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22253392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vectacular/pseuds/vectacular
Summary: Ren has plans, but sometimes they don't work out. Though it may be for the best.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Sakamoto Ryuji, Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji, Persona 5 Protagonist/Sakamoto Ryuji
Series: Z-to-A of Pegoryu [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1540372
Comments: 14
Kudos: 145





	Unfettered

**Author's Note:**

> Working on this was difficult because plots. What are those. But I did find it eventually! Not sure how this got to 2k, but I'll take it.
> 
> Also, my country is on fire and I've been anxious about that a lot, so no energy for writing. RIP. ~~Why write when you can worry about whether the inevitable fires will reach your house instead! It hasn't yet, but my anxiety doesn't care about that.~~

At the start of his probation, Ren wasn’t sure how he’d survive. In Inaba, his hometown, he was known for being a prankster, a menace, but not in a _bad_ way. In a cool, sexy way, where the cops just shook their head at seeing him as he promised that _no, he wouldn’t do it again_ , and _no, no need to ring his travelling parents!_

On the way to Tokyo, in a new uniform for his new school, and with the terms of his probation seared into his mind, he figures he can try the whole _law-abiding,_ unassuming thing. Just keeping his head down, being a model student, and nothing at all like himself. It can be like a game. How will these New Ren deal survive this new environment?! Who knows! Not him!

* * *

“I had a whole thing planned,” Ren grumbles as he paces on the roof. 

“Planned?” Ryuji asks, watching him pace on a rickety chair. 

“I was―going to be good and try and be _nothing_ like me to get through this year and this whole _other_ ―“ he trails off and gestures to the sky, “ _it hasn’t even been a week since I got here!!_ ” 

“You okay, man?” Ryuji seems amused, and he huffs, sitting on a table across from Ryuji to stare at him. 

“I’m on _probation_ in Tokyo, everyone in this school already _hates me_ , and we were almost killed by a teacher wearing _pink underwear_ , twice, why would I be _okay_!?” 

“You have a point,” the blond shrugs. “You also have a persona and a weird get-up.” 

“So do you,” he says petulantly. 

Ryuji laughs, “at least no-one else knows about that place. Aside from that cat.” 

Ren blinks, turning it over in his head. No-one else? Even with all that cognition and whatever, no-one else would know. “So… I can be myself while there,” he waves an arm to refer to that weird castle they were in, “and while _here_ I could still try the whole unassuming goody-two-shoes!” 

“Uh. Sure?” Ryuji gives him a confused look. 

As far as plans going awry go, exploring a creepy new world with Ryuji is bearable. _At least there’s cute boys in Tokyo_.

* * *

“What?” He pants, putting his hands on his hips. Maybe he should’ve gone for one less cartwheel. But Ryuji always looks so impressed that he can’t help it. Ann, however…

“Do you really need to show off for him that much?” Panther asks dryly, almost giving him a heart attack as he looks around for Ryuji. Who seems to be talking with Mona. 

“That obvious?” Ren says quietly. “Does he―“

“Your obvious pining is safe,” she interrupts, “he’s dense.” 

He pouts, “what if I wanted to show off for me, and not for him?”

Panther sighs and pats him on the shoulder, “I’ll support you. You’ll need all the help you can get.” 

“Thanks for that vote of confidence,” he replies flatly. 

* * *

Ren grumbles, looking back as him and Ryuji make their way into the train. 

“ _Dude_. Let it go,” Ryuji says. He pouts at Ryuji. 

“But he was looking at you weird.” 

Ryuji shrugs as they hold onto the straps, “I always get weird looks. If I went after every person that’d look at me weird, I’d never get to do anythin’.” 

“Okay, but _I_ could go after them instead,” _it’d make me feel better at least_ , he thinks. Ryuji shakes his head. 

“We have more important people to go after than some nobodies,” Ryuji points out, and the bag on his shoulder moves, forcibly reminding him of Morgana. 

“The knucklehead has a point,” Morgana says. Ren sighs and rubs his eyes. 

Ryuji glares in the direction of his bag, “hey!” 

“It’s too early, go to sleep Morgana,” he mutters under his breath, and feels some satisfaction at using the not-cat’s words against him. It feels like Morgana moves around in the bag, probably offended, but there’s no more sound. 

Ryuji leans close and snickers, and they share a smile on their way to school.

“I get why you’re like that though,” Ryuji says as they near their stop, and he makes a questioning sound. “I get angry thinkin’ about all the assholes who judge you, when they don’ even know how awesome you are!”

His heart flutters, and he has to bite his tongue from saying something embarrassing. 

* * *

Ryuji has this tendency of saying things in a way that’s endearing, but also _really_ gay, and somehow it’s said in the straightest way imaginable, which is just. Confusing. 

When Ryuji said that his spot was next to Ren, he _died_. The other Phantom Thieves got annoyed with his talk about Ryuji was single-handedly _killing him, killing him_!

It’s a normal day, and they’re all sprawled out around his room when Ryuji comes to sit next to him on the bed. “Mum thinks I’m insane for being attracted to this,” Ryuji says as he puts his phone in front of him. 

Blinking, Ren looks down, and promptly chokes on nothing. _This_ , being a hot guy modeling. **_Guy!_ ** “Him?” He croaks out, mind stalling. “But you’re…“ he trails off, trying to reconcile his world view with what Ryuji’s presenting. 

“Bi?” Ryuji answers like it’s obvious. The onslaught of silence in the room is deafening. Ren’s eyes widen. “... Didn’t I tell ya?” Ryuji scratches his head, like he forgot to do his homework, and not that he forgot to mention that _he’s bisexual!!!_ At this point, he feels like one of those screaming memes Futaba texts. 

“Have I mentioned that―“ _I’m in love with you_ , he almost says, but gets interrupted. By someone pushing him away from Ryuji. 

“Hm. He’s so-so,” Ann peers over Ryuji’s phone, having pushed him out of the way. Ren’s not sure if he should hate her, or thank her. Considering what almost thoughtlessly came out, he’s sure Ann’s expecting crepes or something. 

“You’re a lesbian,” Ryuji says flatly. 

Ann sniffs, “so? You don’t need to be into men to know that he’s average.” 

Ren’s not sure how long he looks up at the ceiling, hearing the other’s conversations wash over him before Futaba comes over to poke him on the nose. “Get up you drama queen,” she sounds annoyed. 

* * *

It’s a warm day, and he’s put aside the day to hang out with Ryuji, considering he’s busy with his other friends and jobs. Having a day, or an afternoon even, just for his first friend is always important. Although, he didn’t see himself dozing on Ryuji’s shoulder while reading manga with him on his bed. 

Groaning, he opens his eyes, “sorry,” he says something close to that at least, with how much he wants to sleep. 

He feels Ryuji laugh, making his heart feel ten times lighter. “Dude, how much did you do?” 

“I…“ he groans again, “helped Toranosuke, got knocked out with Takemi’s drugs, worked two shifts at the convenience store, that afternoon of Mementos requests, hanging out with Futaba, Yusuke and…“ he furrows his brows, counting them off on his fingers, “Haru.” 

Ryuji sighs, and there’s the sound of paper closing, “ _okay,_ you definitely should be gettin’ back to sleep,” the blond puts his arms around his waist. 

“But we were―“ he pulls himself up, resisting the urge to bury himself into Ryuji’s chest, or something else like that. 

“I’m fine with just sleepin’,” Ryuji interjects. 

“ _Forreal_?” Ren slurs, finally relaxing into the other’s hold, grabbing onto the bright red shirt. 

“Yeah. You need the rest,” Ryuji’s voice is soft, and he’s already half-asleep as he feels a hand in hair, which moves to take his glasses off. _An angel, literally an angel_ , is his last coherent thought before he’s lulled to unconsciousness. 

It’s dark when he wakes up, though he doesn’t want to move from Ryuji’s warm hug. He can hear Ryuji’s heart, steady and even. Compared to earlier, he’s much less groggy. Moving his head, he looks up to see that Ryuji’s asleep, phone loosely clutched in his hand. He probably fell asleep while scrolling through whatever. 

Closing his eyes, he listens to the steady beat of Ryuji’s heart, content. 

At least until his stomach rumbles, having not eaten since breakfast. Well, maybe a snack. Sighing, he turns and pulls on Ryuji’s shirt, knowing they should both eat. “Ryuji,” he whispers, “ _Ryuji_ ,” he moves up more and pokes the blond’s cheek, making Ryuji stir. “Wake up,” he pokes Ryuji’s cheek more until it’s batted away by a hand. 

Ryuji groans loudly as he cracks open his eyes, yawning. “Have a good sleep?” 

“Yep, and now we need to eat,” he smiles. The arm around him squeezes him tight before letting go, and he mourns the loss, and the future loss that comes with getting up for a moment. Sighing, Ren gets up and holds a hand out to Ryuji. “Did _you_ have a good nap?” He asks as they go down the stairs. 

“Yep. You make a good blanket,” Ryuji says with a grin, and his pulse spikes madly. 

Blushing, he looks into the fridge, “you make a good mattress,” he mutters quickly. There’s a container in the fridge, full of curry and dated today with Sojiro’s handwriting. _For you and your “friend” ;)_

His face feels even hotter, and he thinks of sticking his face into the freezer to cool down. Now he’ll forever live with the mortification of Sojiro coming up and seeing them sleeping and cuddling, and then putting air quotes on the curry he put away for them. He’s not even going to _think_ about the emoticon, for his sanity. 

“Curry?” He asks, voice strangled. 

“Hell yeah!” 

* * *

After a tough battle, Ren doesn’t realise what he’s done, buzzing with adrenaline and happiness. Ryuji’s frozen in front of him with wide eyes, and the other Phantom Thieves silent behind him. Ann is facepalming, and he only gets why after he thinks about the last few seconds. 

Ryuji dealt the killing blow, and Ren went over to hug him, but instead… he freezes, insides dropping to the depths of Mementos as he touches his lips. Lips that touched Ryuji’s lips. _Oh shit_ , “I…“ he struggles to get any other word out. 

The constant swirling around the walls of Mementos seems to freeze, along with everything else in the vicinity. He’s wanted to kiss Ryuji for ages, yes, but to _actually_ do it on some insane impulse?! 

Behind Ryui, the other team members are now gesturing wildly, mainly to Ryuji. Telling him to confess or something, but thinking about that makes him want to run. “Ry― _Skull_ ,” his voice cracks, and well, he has no clue. 

That, at least, seems to unfreeze Ryuji, who points at him with a shaky finger, “you just…“ 

Ann gasps, and Ryuji blinks, whipping his head to the side to look at their friends. “We should,” Makoto says, “we’re gonna go _all_ the way over near the entrance, and. Watch for shadows,” she orders as she herds away the other thieves, steering away Ann and Futaba as they both turn back. Ryuji finally stares back at him once they’re close to the entrance of the room. 

“I didn’t―I wasn’t planning for it to be like this,” he squeaks. After he says it, the fact that he doesn’t brush it off or turn it into some joke makes him want to melt into the floor, having no escape route to deny his feelings. _Idiot!_

Ryuji crosses his arms, “how did you plan it then?” 

“Uhhhhhhh, never. I was planning to take it to my grave,” he grimaces. 

Ryuji blinks, uncrossing his arms. Ryuji opens and shuts his mouth, and even with the mask, he can imagine the furrow of Ryuji’s brows. “That’s too bad then.” 

“It… it is?” Ren blinks as Ryuji steps closer. 

“A real shame,” Ryuji says softly, and his eyes widen as the other’s hands come up to hover around his cheeks, “‘cuz I’d like to do that again?” Ryuji’s voice gets even softer, and Ren can see a blush from the bottom of the skull mask. 

Gulping, he nods, not wanting to risk whatever incomprehensible noise that would come out of his mouth. 

Ryuji leans in… and their masks knock. “How’d you even do this?” Ryuji mutters as he pulls away a bit, frowning. 

“I’m not sure,” he giggles, which also makes Ryuji laugh as his mask gets pulled up. Tentatively, he goes to pull up Ryuji’s mask, marvelling at the simple act, and that Ryuji doesn’t stop him. 

With masks out of the way, they meet in the middle, and he holds onto Ryuji’s collar as hands go into his hair. And, well, he only has a few comparisons, but Ren’s pretty sure this is the best kiss he’s had. But maybe the _next_ one will also be the best, or the one after that.

_**[Fin]** _

**Author's Note:**

> Ren being impulsively like "I love you" and Ryuji being unknowingly smooth. Good content. 
> 
> I'm so excited for Scramble.... Please let me preorder it.... I want it!!!! 
> 
> Please consider feeding me, a local writer of this planet, with plenty of comments! And kudos! ♥ ♥ ♥ 
> 
> [Tumblr](https://lenreli.tumblr.com/post/190251585170/21k-for-u-link) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/lenreli/status/1217037438721282048)


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